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This thing was produced six, eight, ten months beforehand.
By the time the inventory arrived at movie theaters, it was too late to control the fire.
Potato Headstyle interchangeable expressions, and UniversalsDespicable Me 4birthed apopcorn baby carrier.
Then Ryan Reynolds made the whole thing personal.
Once we decide on what were going ahead with, a prototype is built.
Once the prototype functions properly, we go to tooling, where they build the molding tool.
We see preproduction samples.
There are a lot of checks and balances along the way.
How does one become a popcorn-bucket designer?
I started with illustrations and graduated to doing premium merch like theGhost Mickey popcorn bucket.
Mason: Its definitely a niche.
It was a learning curve for me.
Do you have rivals?
Whats the movie-merch-designer scene like?
Is it like aMad Menscenario?Mason: We have competitors, obviously.
Were aware of what theyre doing.
But just by looking at it, youre not going to know what it is unless youre a bigDunefan.
We kept going back to the worm.
The challenge was doing the body and making it work as a popcorn bucket.
How do you have it not look … acertainway?
We thought wed found a good solution.
Were really just designing the lid more than the tin.
We landed on How cool would it be to stick your hand in it?
But thats not how I designed it, and now youre seeing things that arent there.
It went through maybe one or two rounds at most.
The only major revision had to do with the art on the actual bucket.
What was your initial reaction to its going viral?
Do you remember where you were when you found out?Mason: Yep!
My son, whos 26, called me and said, Dad, did you do theDunebucket?
And I said, Yeah, why?
Its not out in public yet.
He said, Oh, yes it is!
I looked at Twitter and thought,Oh my goodness.We had a conversation with Legendary and AMC.
There was a lot of trepidation about what could happen.
To their credit, both AMC and Legendary embraced it.
There were memes coming out, andSaturday Night Livedid the sketch the following week.
It was a wave you cant stop from breaking.
We just had to ride it in.
The end result of it all was about 24 hours of doubt.
From then on, I mean, were talking to you because of it.
Theres this huge interest from not just the cinema industry but other industries as well.
Theres nothing we can do to change it.
This thing was produced six, eight, ten months beforehand.
I was a little concerned until I spoke with Legendary and AMC, but they were good with it.
Gonzalez: The first tweet that I saw, I didnt quite understand what they were trying to say.
But it wasnt until the second tweet where it was like, Oh, OH!
It was definitely a panic mode: Is this going to be taken the wrong way?
What did we overlook?
We tend to be rather meticulous with the work we do.
We verify the right people see it and we dot ourIs and cross ourTs.
Because it was truly a team effort, we just had to go with it.
Do you have any regrets about the design?
An AMC exec toldVariety, We would have never created it knowing it would be celebrated or mocked.
The item sold out in a short time.
For anyone, if an item sells out, its a success.
Have you ever autographed a popcorn bucket?Mason: No.
Mason: You have?
Are you kidding me?
Most of them ask for a signature because theyre putting it in their collection.
Then othersclaimto be doing the same, but then a week later, my signature is on eBay.
How much have they sold for?
But they sell for more than that.
Some of the mugs we sell at Disney resell for upwards of $1,000.
A lot more cinemas want to do this now.
And its flowed over to non-cinema clients, too.
Theres always been a big demand from theme parks.
Gonzalez: Its the same phenomenon you see at Disneyland.
People wait in line all day and then they say, I dont want popcorn in it.
I want it just the way it is.
They dont want to have to wipe off rotting butter or whatever.
The exact same mentality transfers over to the movie theater.
We are still trying to design for the lowest common denominator.
TheDuneone is a good example.
Was the opening big enough for an adult male hand to fit into?
Usually, my hand is the test to see if I can stick my hand in there without issue.
At places like Disney, its common for people to wait two to three hours for something.
My dad waited hours to get a popcorn bucket.
He likes to tell people in line that his son designed the bucket.
You guys work on merch for movies in all different genres.
Whereas horror movies, not talking aboutFriday the 13ths orSaws, dont have specific things to go off of.
Sometimes they have very strong opinions, so you follow suit.
How do you personally prepare your popcorn?Mason: I dont eat it.
But I dont eat it.
Gonzalez: I love it.
I put it in Ziploc bags, and my son and I eat it throughout the week.
Movie-theater popcorn is the best.
Is there a dream director or genre you would love to design a bucket for?
Like a popcorn-bucket bucket list?Gonzalez: My big one was Marvel, but Im already doing Marvel.
Id love to do more DC Comics or stuff that ties in to video games.
Mason: For me, it would be video games; itd be really cool.
Theyre for adults and for kids.
Everyone seems to connect with them.
We didSuper Mario Bros.last year, but Id love to do something with LEGO, too.
Gonzalez: Ubisoft, Microsoft, Steam.
If they ever do anotherAssassins Creed, Id love to do it.
We could probably do that with a popcorn bucket as well.
Next,The Fall Guy.Gonzalez: I remember the original Fall GuyTV show.
So I think more about props or things that go along with the stunt genre.
Okay, nowSaltburn.Gonzalez: Ive seen memes, but I havent seen this one.
From the trailers and teasers Ive seen, its very sexual.
I dont know what wed want to show from that.
What aboutMonkey Man?Mason: Given that this was so violent, maybe blood-flavored popcorn?
Like hot Cheetos flavored?Mason: Exactly.
The bust or profile would be fun for a popcorn bucket.
I wonder if anyone would get offended if you did something with the nuns habit.
It was simple but effective.
Mason: We worked on something for theChuckyprogram that looked similar.
you’re free to make her eyes move or incorporate that weird dance she did.
Okay, next up:May December.Mason: That movie was kind of weird.
Im pretty sure wed stay away from this one.
Okay, next isThe Iron Claw.Gonzalez: Definitely something with a championship belt.
Two more:Ferrari.Gonzalez: Wed do a bucket or bucket holder for the Ferrari car.
Weve doneThe Fast and the Furiousbefore, a tire sipper like one they actually use in the movie.
Final one,Oppenheimer.Gonzalez: The first thing I would do is the bomb.
What was it encased in?
Gonzalez: Maybe the hat.
The challenge there is that its adjacent to Indiana Jones.
I wouldnt want it to be confusing.
So Id definitely lean into the whole nuclear thing.
